China Trip Planning—Is this Trip Right for You?

Most westerners travel to China only once in their lifetime. China Spree want to ensure you have all the resources in planning your dream vacation. Please read the following information regarding the level of activity you can expect, your physical requirements, trip destination information, tour pacing and meal arrangements specific to this China trip.

Physical Requirements:

This multi-city package tour is moderately paced and includes a reasonable amount of walking or hiking. It is suitable for an average level of physical fitness, but is not appropriate for travelers using wheelchairs or other mobility aids. The tour itinerary does involve sightseeing on foot, walking on uneven surfaces, and climbing of stairs without handrail or assistance. To fully participate in this tour, you must be able to complete some long days of touring with minimal breaks. The departures for this winter special tour cover a period from late autumn (November) to early spring (March), when the temperature in Beijing and Xian varies from 20 F at night to as high as 60 F at noon. The weather could be cold and you may need to walk on slippery surfaces due to weather conditions such as rain and possibly even snow. Though it doesn't happen every day, there could be smog in Beijing or somewhere during the winter season (usually from November to early March). If you have a serious pulmonary problem you might want to reconsider a winter trip. For other popular tours in regular tour seasons (April to October), please click here.

Tour Pacing:

5 cities for 10 nights: 3-nights in Beijing, 2-nights in Xian, 1 night in Hangzhou, 1 night in Suzhou, and 3-nights in Shanghai. We have 2 internal flights of 1-2 hours each.

U.S. and Canadian citizens traveling to China must have a valid passport and a visa obtained prior to entering the country. Please read Passport & China Visa for the complete information including answers to ALL your questions about VISA to China. Download China Visa Instructions.

Flight Schedule:

This China tour package comprises of air travel segments using commercial flights with airlines, such as Air China. This is NOT a chartered flight and therefore the passage contract and your air tickets, once issued, shall constitute the sole agreements between you and the airline(s), and are subject to terms and conditions specified by the airlines.

Q: Can we change the travel date to leave earlier or return later than your travel schedule?

A: The airfare we use with Air China for China Spree Winter Special tours is a very special contracted group fare. One of the restrictions of this special group fare requires all group members travel on the same date with the same routing.

Changing departure date from U.S. is not allowed.

Changing return date but not the routing is allowed and is subject to $200-$300 air supplement depending on the booking class on your actual return day. You must return within 45 days of your departure date from U.S. Note, our 8-day Timeless Beijing flies back from Beijing, while 9-day Beijing & Shanghai and 12-day The Middle Kingdom tours return from Shanghai via Beijing to U.S. The air routing must remain the same. For instance, you can only return later from Shanghai via Beijing to U.S. if you take our 9-day Beijing and Shanghai tour. You cannot skip Shanghai and return later to U.S. directly from Beijing.

Q: Can we add Hong Kong extension to your China Winter Special tour?

A: No. Add Hong Kong to this tour involves changing of routing (return routing will be changed to HKG-PEK-USA) and you need a minimum of 10 travelers extending to Hong Kong with the same return date in order to be eligible for the special group airfare.

The average group size for our China Spree Winter Special tours is between 20-32. On rare occasions the group size can be over 40. These tours are locally guided, which means there will be an English-speaking local tour guide in each destination city.

Document Delivery:

Your final travel documents will be sent to you via email about 2 weeks prior to departure. This email will include a copy of your electronic air ticket receipt (e-tickets), the final tour itinerary, Know Before You Go, China hotel and emergency contact, and other important information for your China tour. Your passport and China visa (if applicable) will be sent to you at about the same time frame, by courier service with signature required. Prior to delivery, you will receive an email notice with shipment tracking information. Documents delivered to outside the continental U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii) will incur an additional delivery charge of $40 if sent by courier service.